When was the last time you thought about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)? Do you even know what it is?

If this is the first you’re hearing about it or you haven’t thought about it in years, odds are favorable your business may be at risk.

WHAT IS DMCA?

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was passed by Congress in 1998, and was the foundation of the effort to move the nation’s copyright law into the digital age. The enactment of the DMCA was only the start of an ongoing evaluation by Congress on the relationship between technological change and U.S. copyright law. The law also heightened penalties for copyright infringement on the Internet. While the law itself isn’t new news, it is constantly being evaluated, amended, and most relevant to you – enforced.

WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?

If you don’t know where every single image on your website – and your agents’ websites – came from and if your company has permission to display each image, you may be at risk. According to NAR, brokerages and associations are getting demand letters and most pay serious dollars to make the threat of a copyright infringement lawsuit go away.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

MLSListings has updated its DMCA protection advisory. View the full PDF, which includes step-by-step instructions on how to register for DMCA protection.